


Stay

by playwrightfate



Series: Ellend'hil Mahariel [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Foreshadowing? No no foreshadowing here ma'am, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:22:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28734153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/playwrightfate/pseuds/playwrightfate
Summary: Just a small moment of fluff and angst between Zevran and his Warden. This is set after the fight with Taliesen, after Zevran gave her the earring for the second time. And also right before the conversation with Riordan. About, you know, some required sacrifice or something? Hmm, can’t remember.
Relationships: Zevran Arainai/Female Mahariel, Zevran Arainai/Female Warden, Zevran Arainai/Warden
Series: Ellend'hil Mahariel [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2198943
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Stay

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, if, per chance, you're visiting this work again, please know that I've edited it slightly since but only a few sentences here and there which do not change anything to the story.

"Here." Her fingers softly explored his wounded shoulder, careful not to apply any pressure as she handed him the elfroot potion she had gone looking for. Even in the softly radiant candle light of their room, the wound wasn’t pretty to look at. But it would heal well, or so the healer had said. 

A ghastly wound which would have been hers if he not had put himself, at the last second, between her and the dagger aiming at her heart.

_It should have been hers._

Zevran grasped her hand, shaking her from her somber and guilt-ridden thoughts, which, pushed away slightly, still stuck to her mind like a haunting mantra. 

_It should have been hers._

He pressed her hand lightly. She flinched, throwing him an uncertain glance before turning away, trying not to let his worried glance affect her. But emotions still threatening to overcome her, she reached for the comb on her bedside table and, sitting away from him at the edge of their bed, she faced the mirror and started combing her hair. After a moment, she saw Zevran’s inquisitive glare reflected back to her in the mirror.

“I met Alistair in the corridors. Apparently Riordan needs to speak with us, some new and terrible Grey Wardens’ secret I guess,”she tried to say lightly, “I’m going to meet with them in a minute.” 

For some reason, this made Zevran grow tense. They sat in silence for a moment, each lost in thought. Zevran broke the silence. “I see,” he said, his voice now full of a mischief which did not reach his eyes. “So now that I am wounded you are leaving me for the company of other men, yes?” 

She scoffed and rolled her eyes at him in the mirror before focusing back on her hair. 

“Well, sacrifice your life for a woman and–” 

In one swift and sudden motion, Ellend’hil leaped onto the bed and pressed her nose against his, surprise silencing him instantly. Her loose hair fell like pools of fire around his own. He could smell and see nothing but her as she pressed close, her eyes peering into his before fluttering shut. “Don't.”

Though it alighted the pain in his shoulder, making him wince, he could not help then but seize her hips. His attempt at hiding it unfortunately not going unnoticed despite her closed eyes. 

“Zevran…” She whispered against his lips, drawing out the last syllable of his name in concerned warning. 

But he needed her to stay here. Close. For she was the Sun, golden and bright. And what better medicine than her warm smile which, reaching her eyes, made them sparkle in the dark. She gazed at him intently for a moment, as if looking for something in the depths of his own amber eyes he wondered if he was ready to ever let her find. His breath caught in his chest. His pulse jumped. She had looked at him many times before, of course, but sometimes in the incandescent darkness of their room, she would throw him those earth-shattering stares which he still felt unworthy of. For all his boasting (he certainly had no trouble telling in front of anybody how beautiful he thought she was), in the intimacy of those moments, he would feel himself become almost shy under her gaze, under the soft touch of her fingers tracing his thigh, in embraces so tender it hurt. She made him feel–him! Zevran!–like a blushing boy sometimes, almost fumbling with his words. He despaired to think of what she would have made of him if he had met her as a boy. But the crowded streets of Antiva had remained empty. 

A ragged breath escaped him, which he tried to hide by clearing his throat. He had to give himself some kind of composure. A light pressure of his fingers just to tickle and—

“Zevran!” She straightened and writhed under his hands, caught unprepared by his restless fingers. 

She let out a laugh so bright he felt his chest tighten. “What were you expecting, hmm? Crawling on me like that!” 

His hands, still resting on her hips, threatened to slide down to her thighs. He tried to appear playful and teasing, as always, but suddenly he felt almost like pleading, desperate. _Stay close. Don’t go._ And he loved the way her skin flushed under his gaze and his touch. How from giddy and playful she would suddenly become serious, flustered.

But this time it did not last.

She gripped his hands with an amused smile, not yet pushing them away. Her fingers skittering over his knuckles. Her warm breath tickling his skin. “You have to rest now.” 

There was only adoration in his eyes when he broke the silence again, his hands still caught in hers, trailing up and down her hips with featherlight touches. “You’re a very cruel woman, you know that right?” 

She smiled and leaned into him, her voice and presence like a whisper on his shivering skin. “Cruel, you say?”

Slowly, she kissed his forehead, so soflty that his eyes flustered shut. He was not yet used to those kinds of affections. They were still new to him. And he might never recover from how freely they were given. A slight frown creased his brow. Then, with her breath warming his skin to ecstasy, she kissed his eyelids, the tip of his nose, his cheeks before hovering over his lips... Empires might have risen and fallen, utterly forgotten, in this infinite moment. He was under her spell. But with a wicked laugh, she took advantage of his surprise to lean back and roll off of him.

Zevran sighed, regretfully letting go of her hands, silently cursing and praising her playful moods. _What a minx._

A minx now striding to the door, away from him and proud of herself. But when she turned around to look back at him one last time before going, him now hidden under the covers, his pouty eyes trying to make her feel guilty, the intensity of the genuine plea she felt underneath it all almost made her run back to him and stay, oblivious of the rest of the world.

But she had a duty, didn't she? She took vows and oaths seriously. 

So instead, she grabbed the handle and opened the door. “Rest,” she demanded not unkindly, “now.” 

He tried to intensify the pouting in his eyes. She scoffed. And then she was out. 

Zevran let out a long sigh before letting himself fall back on his pillow, his eyes studying the ceiling. _How was he going to sleep now?_ The room was cold with her absence. The pain in his limbs, almost forgotten when he held her close, was now flaring up. And he felt this weird anxiety coursing through his veins, taking space in his chest. 

_What more could the Grey Wardens possibly want from her?_

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! you can also find me here[ @playwright-fate](https://playwright-fate.tumblr.com/)


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